Topeka, Kan. (March 1, 2018): The Kansas Chamber announced Thursday the 40 members of its 2018 Leadership Kansas Class. Leadership Kansas is a nationally recognized program focused on developing and motivating a diverse group of Kansas leaders from all four corners of the state.

An affiliated program of the Kansas Chamber, the program celebrates its 40th year in 2018.

“The Kansas Chamber is excited to welcome the newest Leadership Kansas class. As one of the oldest and most prestigious statewide leadership programs in the country, Leadership Kansas has a long history of fostering greater awareness and understanding of statewide economic, business and political issues. The program helps develop our state leaders to make Kansas a stronger and more vibrant business engine.” said Kansas Chamber President & CEO Alan Cobb.

Each year, Leadership Kansas receives nearly 700 nominations for the program. After a thorough and thoughtful application and selection process, 40 individuals are chosen to participate. The selection committee and the Leadership Kansas Board of Trustees make every effort to ensure the class has geographic, ethnic, occupational, and gender diversity.

The 2018 program begins in late April with an orientation session in Lawrence and ends with graduation after the completion of the Topeka session in October. The host cities for this year’s program are Garden City, KC Metro, Hays, Pittsburg, South Central and Manhattan/Topeka.

Throughout the six-month program, the class interacts with a variety of experts and community leaders through three-day educational training sessions in different communities across the state. The diverse discussion topics include: business; education; agriculture; public policy; societal health; economic development; and government, just to name a few.

“Graduates of Leadership Kansas complete the program with a deeper understanding of our state and are better equipped to shoulder important leadership responsibilities in their communities and careers,” said Mary Hammond (Class of 2010).

Leadership Kansas has more than 1,400 alumni. Distinguished alumni include: former Kansas Governor Bill Graves; Westar Energy CEO, Mark Ruelle; C.Q. Chandler IV, President of INTRUST Bank; Pittsburg State University President, Steve Scott; retired Brig. Gen Deborah Rose; former CEO of the Kroger Company David Dillon; former Spirit AeroSystems President & CEO Jeff Turner; Murfin Drilling Company, Inc. President Dave Murfin; U.S. Senator Jerry Moran and U.S. Representatives Lynn Jenkins and Kevin Yoder, among others. John Federico (Class of ’97) serves as the Executive Director of the Leadership Kansas Program.